Data Centre Watch

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147 entries · showing 46–60

1. 16 Oct 2026 UK Oxfordshire Reported

   Didcot data centres to be studied for a waste-heat network

   Vale of White Horse District Council has commissioned a heat-network techno-economic feasibility study for roughly 400,000 sq m (4.3m sq ft) of proposed data centres on brownfield land beside Didcot Power Station. Nordic Energy will assess viability, heat sources and demand, delivery models and alignment with the new heat-network zoning rules (tender closes 9 November), reporting in March 2027.

   Why it matters: A council testing whether the build-out's waste heat can be captured — and doing it as a cluster, not scheme by scheme.

   Source: DCD [C]

2. 16 Oct 2026 World Indiana, US 1100 MW Reported

   Microsoft funds 1.1GW of power for its Indiana campus

   Microsoft and NiSource have signed a 20-year agreement under which Microsoft funds roughly 1,100MW of new generation and transmission for its $1bn La Porte, Indiana campus, delivered from 2028. The utility says the deal shields other NIPSCO customers and saves them up to $140 a year (about $1.75bn in total), alongside 600MW of battery storage. The first three of six phase-one buildings are due in 2029, with an 11-building second phase after La Porte annexed 1,000 acres.

   Why it matters: The 'pay your own way' model, put in a contract: the tenant funds the power, and the utility sells the savings as political cover.

   Source: Inside INdiana Business [C]

3. 16 Oct 2026 UK Cardiff, Wales 150 MW Reported

   Cardiff data centre seeks its own gas power station

   The developer of a 150MW data centre at Cardiff East Park and Ride, near Llanrumney, is also seeking permission for a 'temporary' 49.9MW gas plant — five turbines plus a steam generator and two standby — to run from July 2028 for up to five years while it waits for a grid connection that may not arrive until 2030–34, plus 40 diesel backup generators. Friends of the Earth Cymru calls it 'climate-wrecking'; nearly all the area's MSs, a Welsh government minister and a senior Labour councillor have objected, and the Welsh government has issued a holding direction while it considers calling the scheme in.

   Why it matters: The grid queue is so long that developers are building power stations next door — and calling them temporary.

   Source: BBC News [C]

4. 16 Oct 2026 World Global Reported

   Data-centre builders pre-order generators two years ahead

   At Capacity Europe 2026, supply-chain leads reported that generators now take about two years to arrive and high-voltage transformers 12–18 months, so operators reserve manufacturing slots before designs are frozen — putting delivery speed ahead of price. It is the equipment scarcity that sets project timelines alongside the grid queue.

   Why it matters: Long before the power connects, the kit meant to back it up is already the bottleneck.

   Source: ETDatacenters / Capacity Europe [C]

5. 16 Oct 2026 World Sydney, Australia Reported

   Anthropic signs a 15-year deal at DigiCo's Sydney campus

   Anthropic has signed a 15-year contract for capacity at DigiCo's SYD1 data centre in Sydney, the HMC Capital-backed operator's flagship site. Reported by the Australian Financial Review, it is the latest in a run of long-term anchor deals the AI lab has signed for compute this year.

   Why it matters: The AI labs are locking in years of capacity direct with operators — demand that, unlike the queue, is actually contracted.

   Source: Australian Financial Review [C]

6. 15 Oct 2026 Updated 16 Oct World Kentucky, US 2200 MW Reported

   Meta named behind a 3,000-acre Kentucky campus

   Meta has been confirmed as the developer of a data-centre campus in Mason County, Kentucky — described as almost 3,000 acres by DCD and about 2,000 acres by Fox19. Under the community-benefits agreement it will invest roughly $10–15bn initially (reported as 'up to $800bn' over the life of the 40-year plan), fund $115m of road, water-treatment and pipeline works, and create 4,000+ construction and 300 permanent jobs — in return for a 40-year local property-tax break. Payments are $5m a year to local government and $2m a year to schools per phase, rising to $30m and $12m once fully built. Meta is expected to close on the property in November, with two lawsuits still pending; filings suggest up to six large buildings and capacity that could reach 2.2GW.

   Why it matters: A 40-year tax break for a campus of up to 2GW — the incentive bargain at its largest.

   Source: DCD + Fox19 / Ledger Independent [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 16 Oct 2026 — Added the Fox19 detail: ~$15bn initial investment ('up to $800bn' over the life), per-phase payments of $5m/yr to local government and $2m/yr to schools, closing in November, and two pending lawsuits; noted the acreage is reported as ~2,000 (Fox19) and ~3,000 (DCD).
   2. 15 Oct 2026 — First filed.
7. 15 Oct 2026 Updated 16 Oct World United States Reported

   The data-centre debt is being repriced

   After Firmus abandoned its ~A$44bn float, a bond sell-off hit data-centre names: CoreWeave's high-yield bonds fell to ~77 cents (yields ~17%), with Nebius and TeraWulf down too. Its five-year credit-default swaps blew past 1,000bp — implying roughly a 63% chance of default within five years, up from ~30% a year ago — as Oracle (288bp) and SoftBank (424bp) widened and CDS for Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Nvidia hit records. Gartner warns ~$3.5tn of AI-infrastructure investment could be written down by 2030. Later on 15 October, PitchBook reported CoreWeave's unsecured notes yielding 15–16.5%, JPMorgan cutting Applied Digital's project debt to Neutral on a looming 'supply overhang', and Cipher Digital raising $850m in convertibles. On 16 October the picture steadied: CoreWeave shares fell 15.5% on Wednesday but recovered ~5.9% on Thursday on Nvidia's public backing, and its backlog exceeds $100bn (about two-thirds investment-grade) — though analysts note Bell Canada's Regina campus still carries tenant-credit risk from CoreWeave and Cerebras, with Nebius and Iren shares down ~14% on the week. Reuters also reported on 15 October that the sell-off is testing the AI data-centre deal boom: PowerHouse paused a planned $4bn share sale, and lenders are demanding tougher terms.

   Why it matters: The debt under the build-out is being repriced — the financing side wobbling harder than any single float.

   Source: Reuters / The Telegraph [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 16 Oct 2026 — Added Reuters' 15 Oct 'market selloff tests the AI data-centre deal boom' report — PowerHouse paused a planned $4bn share sale and lenders are demanding tougher terms.
   2. 15 Oct 2026 — First filed.
8. 15 Oct 2026 Updated 16 Oct World National Capital Region, Canada 60 MW Reported

   Canada's federal government plans a 60MW hyperscale data centre

   Defence Construction Canada has issued an early notice for a $1.5–1.8bn, 60MW 'hyperscale' data centre somewhere in the National Capital Region, for Canada's cyber agency, the Communications Security Establishment. The project is not yet approved — the notice gives suppliers time to obtain security clearance ahead of a possible solicitation next winter — and comes as Ottawa publishes a framework for private data centres (lasting local benefit, no cost-shifting to consumers, minimised water and environmental impact) alongside an extra $500m of AI funding.

   Why it matters: A government building its own AI-scale data centre — while the same city reaches for the brakes on private ones.

   Source: CTV News / Ottawa Citizen [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 16 Oct 2026 — Added that the facility is for Canada's cyber agency (CSE), the $1.5–1.8bn figure, and the new federal data-centre framework plus $500m of extra AI funding.
   2. 15 Oct 2026 — First filed.
9. 15 Oct 2026 World Waterford, Ireland 203 MW Refused

   Waterford refuses Echelon's 203MW Kilmeaden campus

   Waterford City and County Council has refused permission for Echelon's 108-hectare 'technology park' at Kilmeaden, on the site of a former cheese factory: three data centres with roughly 203MW of average demand, 16 gas turbines, solar and battery storage, plus a new village centre. The refusal cited a failure to show sufficient grid capacity or on-site renewable generation (or corporate PPAs), conflict with the Climate Action Plan 2025, loss of village character, no adequate wastewater network and flood risk. About 500 submissions opposed it, and the Green Party's Roderic O'Gorman used the decision to call for a renewed moratorium on fossil-powered data centres, citing a recent refusal in Killala, Co Mayo.

   Why it matters: On-site gas and a thin energy case did not survive the planning committee — the clearest 'own your power or lose consent' outcome this week.

   Source: Irish Examiner / RTÉ [C]

10. 15 Oct 2026 World United States Pre-application

    Floating AI data centres planned for the US Gulf Coast

    Riverway Group and Offshore Data Center have partnered to design and build offshore data-centre platforms along the US Gulf Coast, converting stranded and undervalued natural gas into power for computing co-located at the fuel reserves. The designs range up to 1GW for large-scale AI training, with smaller edge/inference configurations.

    Why it matters: When the gas is stranded and the grid is late, the data centre goes to the fuel — compute on the water.

    Source: Data Center Intelligence [C]

11. 15 Oct 2026 UK National Reported

    Energy chiefs warn data centres could push up household bills

    The Times reports that energy chiefs have warned of a public backlash against data centres if a large rise in their number pushes up what households pay for power. It lands as the 'who pays for the grid?' question moves to the centre of the UK debate, echoing Moody's warning that Europe's data-centre demand could lift consumer prices unless governments intervene.

    Why it matters: Who pays for the power is becoming the fault line — not just whether it's green.

    Source: The Times [C]

12. 15 Oct 2026 UK Kent Approved

    Canterbury approves a landfill-gas data centre

    Canterbury City Council has approved Era4's data centre at the Shelford landfill site, powered by a private-wire connection to the neighbouring Valencia Energy Centre, which burns methane captured from the landfill. It draws around 140MWh a day at full use (~5.8MW continuous) — within the energy centre's average daily output — with South East Water capping water use at 20 cubic metres a day. It is part of an Era4/Valencia plan for eight landfill-gas data centres.

    Why it matters: The power source is the waste next door — a rare scheme whose energy is already on site.

    Source: Data Centre Review [C]

13. 15 Oct 2026 World Virginia, US Policy

    Virginia bill would pause new data centres for three years

    Virginia state senator Russet Perry has prefiled SB843, a three-year statewide moratorium on new data centres in the world's largest data-centre market. Effective 1 July 2027 and sunsetting 2030, it would block local approvals (rezoning, special exceptions, permits, site plans) and bar state agencies — including the Department of Environmental Quality and the State Corporation Commission — from permitting data-centre development or its power infrastructure.

    Why it matters: Even the industry's capital is now debating a pause — the local-revolt question reaching a state legislature.

    Source: DCD / Loudoun Now [C]

14. 15 Oct 2026 World Malaysia Policy

    Malaysia to charge data centres for power they reserve but don't use

    Malaysia's trade minister told parliament that data-centre operators will pay for committed-but-unused electricity capacity — 'request 200MW, use 100, we charge you for the other 100' — and that data-centre load is being separated from the supply serving households. It has 57 operational centres using 6,237MW, with 60 more (11,172MW) in the pipeline; operators must use water-recycling cooling.

    Why it matters: The speculative-load problem, handled by billing for reserved capacity — the same question the UK's Ofgem is wrestling with.

    Source: The Star [C]

15. 15 Oct 2026 World Northern Territory, Australia Policy

    Northern Territory Labor flips to back a hyperscale data-centre moratorium

    The NT opposition, having said a moratorium was unnecessary in August, now supports pausing 'hyper-scale' data centres until 1 July ahead of a review — after the territory's EPA recorded 'low confidence' in the environmental planning for an outback hyper-scale scheme an independent MLA tried to halt outright (two petitions, 15,000 signatures). The CLP government stripped the moratorium and review from the motion, citing national standards.

    Why it matters: The local-revolt argument reaching a territory courting 12 data-centre projects — with the regulator's own 'low confidence' as the trigger.

    Source: ABC News [C]